New CD with piano works by Theo Loevendie

Last January saw the release of Ralph’s newest CD, featuring the works of Dutch key composer Theo Loevendie (1930). Published by the Attacca Records label, it features his very first, unpublished works up to and including his most recent work. As a lifelong jazz saxophone and clarinet player, Loevendie’s music is characterized by Messiaenic harmonies, jazzy rhythms, improvisatory qualities and influences of especially Arabic music. It has immediately received rave reviews, one of them from Opus Klassiek Magazine: “In part, Loevendie’s music always sounds so good because of Ralph van Raat’s playing, which, with his love for contemporary music, demonstrates a classical instinct for hierarchy and structure, and places clarity of phrasing and rhythm above all other parameters. That does not mean that he thinks that other aspects are unimportant, but it means that he gives them the right position.”